Improved cotton-press



W. A. SHEPARD. 00mm PRESS.

No. 50,635. Patented Oct. 24, 1865.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM, A. SHEPARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, ROYAL M.BASSETT, OF DERBY, AND H. c. SMITH, OF GOSHEN, CONN.

I'MPR OVED COTTON-PRESS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,685, dated October24, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WVM. A. SHEPARD, of

New York, in the cohnty of New York and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Pressing Cotton,820.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,making part of this application. 1 Y

My invention relates to certain im proveineuts in machinery for pressingcotton, hay, 850., and has for its objects to obtain the greatestpracticable amount of leverage with a system which is simple and-durablein its mechanical construction, and in which the motive power iscentrally and economically applied. and also to render the working ofsuch machinery in practice rapid as well as effectual; and to these endsmy invention consists'inthe employment, in combination with two creepingcrossbeams, supported by ratchets and connected together by two or morepairs. of links, of=a centrally-located driving-crank and pitmen,

or their equivalents, all as hereinafter more fully explained; and myinvention further consists in the employment of a driving-wheel arrangedto operatein a given position, in combination with a main shaft andsystem of levers and driving-crank arranged to move intermittently with.the sliding or. creeping beams, all as hereinafter more fully described.

To enable-those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the construction and operation of one of my improvedpresses, referring by letters to the ac companying drawings, in which-Figure l is avertical section taken on a line,

.00 or, seen at Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken at the lineyy, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken at the line 2 zof Fig. 1.

1n the several figures the same parts are designated by the same lettersof reference.

A represents the main frame-work, which may be supported by a suitablebase, A, orbe built in the burn or other 'house where the cotton orother material is to be baled, and in the upper portion of which isformed,in t'heusual manner, a bottomless case or box having doors A A onone or both sides. The top F of the said case or box is formed withgrooves s s in the usual way, to admit of the introduction of the bandsor ropes which are to confine the material in a halo.

F is the moving platen or ascending presser, which has also grooves s s,and which is mounted on the cross-beam E. Said crossbeam and its mate,E, are constructed and arranged to move intermittently in the samedirection while performing thelpressing operation by means of mechanismto be presently described.

B isthemain driving-pulley, which is mounted loosely or to turn freelyon the vertical shaft 0. Said shaft is splined so as to movelongitudinally through its bearings and through the driving-wheel K,while at the same time it is held by a key projecting from the wheel Kinto said spline from turning around in thewheel K.. The shaft 0 worksup and down.

and turns in a hole bored through base A, and

also in suitable bearin gs iu'the cross-bar D, and, in a stand, P,which. projects from said beam D. (See Fig. 3.) On the upper end of theshaft 0 is keyed a bevel-gear, H, which meshes-into and drives anotherbevel-gear, G. the latter be: ing keyed on the end of a shaft,l?, (seeFig. 2,) on which is formed thedriv'ing-crank M; This crank-shaft is sopported and rnnsin two stands,

N and O, which. are secured to and project from the verticalsides of.the creeping crossheam E, and to the crank M of said shaft areconnected (one end of each) two pitmen, I and J which are also coupledat 4 and 7 (s'ee'Fig. 1) to two pivots or studs. To these studs arecoupled (one end of each) the links 0 e and d d, which are 'also pivotedat l l and 2 2 to the creeping beams E and E, respectively, as clearlyshown.

a a are two vertical ratchets, which are secured-to the upright portionof the'fra'me-w'ork' of the machine, and in which work four pawls orcatch-bars, b b b b. These bars b are arranged to slide in straps orhousings c on the under sides of beams E E, near their ends, and areheld in the ratchets a a by meansof springs g, as clearly'shown; andsaid catch-bars b are provided with a connected mechanism, by meansof'which they are thrown and held out of the ratchets at the will of theoperator or attendant, which I will explain. To each pair ofcatch-bars--that is, the two bars under each creepingcross-beam-areconnected two wires or small rods, ff, which are also connected to anangle=lever, L, (see Fig. 3,) which is pivoted at'm to the lower side ofthe cross-beam, the ends of said wires or I'OdS7ff1 where they arecoupled to saidlever, passing through slots 5 6, as'clearly shown in thedrawings.

lis a spring-pawl secured to the upper surfaceor side of the maindriving-pulley, B,and engaging with thetoothed wheel K.

m is aturn-button to hold the spring-pawl in mesh or contact with thewheel K.

It will be understood that, as the pulleyB is loose on shaft 0, bythrowing. the spring-pawl linto the toothed wheel K the latter andpulley B are so clutched together that power applied to pulley B to turnit in one direction (as per red arrow, Fig. 3) will drive. also saidwheel K, and that, as the latter is keyed in the spline .of shaft 0,said shaft is thereby rotated in a given direction.

In connection with what has already been said, the following willsufliceto give a complete knowledge of my improved press, both in itsconstruction and operation.

' Suppose the parts to be in the relative positions seen in thedrawings, to press a bale of cotton or other material the followingoperations would be performed: The cottonjbeing placed in the case orbox of the press, and the doors A A having been closed and fastened, andthe bands for securing the bale having been laid in the grooves s s inthe usual manner, the

motive power is applied to the main drivingpulley B and it caused torotate in the direction indicated by the arrow at Fig. 3. By therotation of said pulley the toothed wheel K 'is rotated, and it in turnrotates the shaft 0, from which, through the medium of the bevel-gears G11, motion is imparted to the crank-shaftP,

(M.) By the revolutions of the said crank M the pitmen I J are caused todraw -"toward and force from the former alternately the pivots or studs4 7, and thereby alternately place the links 6 e and d din straightlines and at angles, as seen at Fig. 1. Now, supposing the parts tostand in the relative position seen at Fig. 1, and it will be understoodthat by the next quarterrevolution of the crank M the bars or links 0 candcl at will be brought (each pair) into a straight line, and sincethey assume a straight line and the. beam E is prevented from movingdownward, the beam E is forced upward by the 'togglejoint actionof saidlevers or links a e and d d. By the next quarter-revolution of saidcrank M the toggles or links 0 e and d d are again placed at angles,drawing the pivots or pins 2 2 nearer to the points 1 1, and since thebeam E is now held (by its catches b 1)) up so that the points 1 1cannot descend to accommodate the changed position ofthe links, the beamE is drawn upward. At the next quarter-revolution the beam E serves as afulcrum on fixture to aid in eft'ectingthe forcing up of beam E, and soon, the beams E and E are respectively and alternately pushed and pulledupward by the action of the toggle-joints on two pairs of links, e e andd d,

causing the platen F to ascend with an intermittent (but nearlycontinuous) motion.

It will be seen that' since the driving crankshaft, pitmen, toggles,850., are all connected to the beams E E, these working parts, with thegearing, must all move upand down with said beams, and to admit of thisand still have the main driving-pulley and point of applying the motivepower retain the same position, the main shaft 0 is splined or groovedlongitudinally, as before described, and so arranged as that it willascend freely with the working parts and at the same time receive andimpart motion. with perfectfacility. After the platen has been forced upas far as necessary or desired, thedoors A A may be opened, the bale ofcotton. bound and removed "from the press. Then,'to put themachineinstantlyin its former condition, ready to press another bale,

the pawl l is thrown out of engagement with the toothed wheel K, whichallows the main pulley to run loose, and the operator, takinghold of theangle-levers L L, pulls them round on their fulcrnms w in the directionindicated by the arrows at Fig. 3, and throws or draws,

by means of wires f, the four bolts b out of the ratchets A A, and thecreeping beams, platen, and working mechanism are allowed to descend tothe lower. part of the frame of the press, ready to repeat the operationof pressing another bale.

It will'be seen that by the employment of v the spring-pawl l and theretaining turn-button m the operator can easily, while the machine is'running, disconnect the main pulley B from the main shaft 0 and quicklyadjust the platen and levers, 8w, ready for another bale, and that,simply turning the button mthe whole mechanism is again put-intooperation.

It will be understood thatin lieu of the crank M an eccentric or a cam.might be employed, and that the number, arrangement, and location of thetoggles or levers may be varied without changing the mode of operationof the machine, and it will also be understood that the drivingmechanism may be varied without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

'It will be seen that by the application .of the power about at themiddle of the-machine, and in the manner vdescribed, the whole apparatusis rendered simple and efl'ective.

It will be understood that by the use. of the creeping beams E E incombination with the toggle joints or levers, as described, an almostinfinite amount of leverage is attained and the power most economicallyemployed.

Of course, the details of construction and proportions of the machinemay be varied at the will of the constructer to suit the circmn stancesunder which it is to be employed.

Having fully explained the construction and operation of my improvedmachine, what I.

claim therein as new, and desire to secure by nently-looateddriving;pniiey B, as and for the pnrposes set forth.

3. The employment, in combination with the beams, ratehets, and bolts,of levers L, so arranged and connected with said bolts as to enable theoperator to quickly drop the moving parts, as described.

WM. A. SHEPARD. n s.]

Witnesses:

J. N. MGINTIRE, GEABLES SPEER.

